A/N: This chapter should be the one to cover some if not all of Volume 5's events. I should mostly be focusing on Noelle and her development as a person as she's clued into everything. I'm also going to play a mean prank on Leila for the lols.
In other news, demon Olivier was announced for Master of Garden so now I have another chance to get her. I probably should have saved the gems from the crossover event, but because they never rerun I decided to go for it.
Also, it's kind of funny, but I think there's one male character you interact with in Master of Garden, that being the leader dude from the Fire Force event. I feel like you should be able to talk to Cid honestly.
Leon Fou [now Rapha] Barfort: Renowned adventurer and current crown prince. / previously: Hiro (pre:isekai)—Lea of Bart's Fort (The true founder of Holfort and lover to the Saintess Ann and Mary)—JOU_MOU_ (someone who used to work in Luxion's facility.)
Angelica Rapha Redgrave: Daughter of Duke Redgrave and ex-fiancé to Julius/ Previously: Ann of Bart's Fort (aka Saintess Ann and lover of Lea of Bart's fort). / Also goes by Angie to close friends and loved ones. Currently Pregnant.
Olivia: Commoner from the Kagenou Barony. / previously: Mary, lover and companion to Ann and Lea. When they had returned from their adventures in ancient Midgar, all three had been attacked by the founding heirs as they all wanted Ann. To save Lea and Ann from such a fate, she teleported them away, and swapped bodies with Ann. / Is also known as Livia by her close friends and loved ones. Currently Pregnant.
Cid Kagenou: fiancé to several famous elves but just a regular mob you'd find anywhere / previously: Minoru Kagenou boy from Earth that would be transported to the ancient times of the current before dying at the hands of his friends due to becoming demonically possessed out of grief. / Also dons the secret identity of "Lord Shadow." Leader and founder of The Shadow Garden. / Mundane Mann, a pathetic looking sword wielder that disappeared many years ago and has returned for the Bushin festival. / Kageno of Mitsugoshi, after an argument with his parents, Cid decides to go by Kageno for a while. / Herlock Sholmes. During the trial of Leon v Holfort, Cid disguised himself as the famous detective. Most importantly, all the Shades call him some variant of "darling."
Alice [Kagenou: Cid's personal elf servant, lover, and childhood friend / previously: Beatrice (this is non canon, but all of Shadow Garden had identities before joining so I made a name up for her.) / Dons the secret identity of "Alpha" or "Lady Shade." Co-leader and second founder of The Shadow Garden, first of the Seven Shades. The name "Alpha" is only used by those in Shadow Garden. Currently Pregnant.
Other Shadow Garden Members: All of the seven shades have secret identities. They see their Shadow Garden names as their true names and will use that in their own thoughts. But to everyone not in Shadow Garden that sees them as their secret identities will use those names.
Beta: Natsume Kafka, renowned writer.
Gamma: Luna of Mitsugoshi, owner of said store and many others, richest Woman in the world. Xianyun, Sword master of the far eastern kingdoms. Currently Pregnant.
Delta: Sara, certified good girl.
Epsilon: Shiron, amazing musician known internationally.
Zeta: Zetan. Previously known as Lilim, named after the therianthrope hero, Lili.
Eta: Goes by Eta Lloyd Wright, renowned Architect.
Charlie: Known previously as Carla Fou Wayne.
Aurora: Called Violet by Cid and now camps out in his soul/brain. Known as the Witch of Calamity, and the Demon Diabolos.
Other People:
Claire Kagenou: Cid's older sister and one of Leon's fiancés. Going by Nonna during her time in Alzer.
Deidre Fou Roseblade: The stereotypical haughty Ojou-Sama. One of Leon's fiancés. Going by Rogue during her time in Alzer.
Rose Oriana: Princess of Oriana. Probably the only person besides Aurora that knows Cid thinks everything is part of a game. Going by Luci in Alzer. Number 666 in The Shadow Garden.
Noelle Beltre: Beltre is a fake last name given to her after the destruction of her house. In truth, her name is Noelle Zel Lespinasse / ?
Louise Sara Rault: Currently the one and only daughter of House Rault. Also the only living child by blood following the death of her brother Leon Sara Rault. A vampire "princess" to boot. / In her previous life she was Hiro(pre-isekai Leon)'s girlfriend, Yuna. He was ready to propose but when the rumor of him being gay spread she dumped him.
Disclaimer: I don't own Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs nor The Eminence in Shadow. The only Beta reader here is the elf.
-Cid/Minoru (Shadow)-
Although the memory had ended with my duel with Olivier just beginning, whatever had happened must have signified some kind of change in Olivier. Because from there I saw her act as closely to Alpha as she could—outside of teasing me—ever be. See, from that day we'd go on to recruit each of what I had to assume was the ancestors of the seven shades.
For the most part, every counterpart seemed pretty close in appearance. There were some minor differences, as Delta's ancestor had more curly hair, Beta's wore hers longer, as did Epsilon's… and there was something else that I won't mention about Epsilon's ancestor so I won't make Epsilon cry. Gamma's and Eta's ancestors were pretty similar to them in appearance.
Olivier's idea was that if we surrounded ourselves with strong people we'd be untouchable. Since our main goals were to fight vampires and demolish the cult of diabolos. Although we didn't know who the cult was. They were just a group of alchemists to us.
We did also come across the ancestors of my sister Claire and Rose's. Funnily enough, they seemed to be more into each other than Lea or anyone else.
In any case, we were going pretty strong at this point. Now, there was one last memory for me to go through before I had to go through whatever boss fight awaited me with a memory that I apparently wouldn't be ready for.
Last time I had to fight "Minoru" and was greeted with the memory of my parents leaving for America…
sigh* Still not pleasant to recall.
Anyway, as everything else in this room was dedicated to meeting everyone that Minoru/I had known when we first got to this world, I could guess who the last person was I had to meet.
The memory had begun like usual, I was in the tent I shared with Olivier and some of the other girls. Most of the shades' ancestors had begun to sleep in our tent at first because they didn't have one, so they were supposed to sleep with us for a bit before eventually getting their own.
However, all that happened was we'd recruit more and more of them and they'd just stay in the same tent. Eventually we had to use magic to make the thing bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside.
After all, many of our missions involved us going places incognito, so having a whole horde of tents would just give us away. As would a tent large enough to hold all of us.
We did occasionally split up, of course, usually just taking missions to wipe out any given stronghold or caravan. The trickiest part was taking down any given air ship that had people on it. We wanted to save the people aboard, but we'd be liable to sink it if we did things wrong.
Anyway, one day we had gotten intel about a particularly big gathering of these weird scientist guys. We couldn't tell what it was that they wanted, but we could tell whatever it was that they were getting up to wouldn't be good.
So, we did our best to tail them as usual. The weird thing was, we got this information from one of Olivier's bosses dying and finding some letters on his person. She didn't care, nor did Freyja. To them it just seemed like a bit of an inconvenience. Even Lili was just like "That guy died? Oh…"
Anyway, we were now in what seemed like one of the biggest facilities those scientists had. In fact, we even had to find an island that wasn't floating. Like legit, there's no way we ever would have found this place. It doesn't help that it was underneath this huge tree, or that we had to find this weird warp gate thingy.
Not to mention we had to find out the hard way that there were these things called 'demonic armors' that were essentially giant armors. If possession was something that was inflicted on these new humans due to the demon diabolos to ruin their bodies, then the demonic armors were there to 'elevate' these people into new demons.
We didn't know where these cores were coming from, but we imagined that following this lead from that dead guy could help lead us there.
As it was, I'd be in a group with Olivier (the only time I'm not is when I'm with Lea for some reason). We'd be the main force, gathering everyone's attention while the others would work on rescuing any and all captives left there.
Looking back on it, although I only figured out how to cure possession in my current life, Mary and Ann's healing abilities were actually pretty close to doing it themselves. It wouldn't give them the magic boost that my cure for magical overload does, but when they do it they do get rid of the tumors and black skin that came from it.
Anyway, Olivier and I were in the thick of it, storming the place that looked more sci-fi than fantasy as usual for these places. We snuck in by knocking out some guards. I used the uniform he was wearing and pretended that I was escorting Olivier to be experimented on.
One to cross off the bucket list. Although I admit it would've been better if Olivier didn't discover something about herself as I tied her arms behind her given how long it took for us to get her ears to stop wiggling.
Anyway, so we were doing our thing and carrying out the plan flawlessly, with someone who worked for a higher up who started monologuing about what that place was.
Apparently, it was one of the main testing facilities for the revival of who they called "Diabolos."
There wasn't much he revealed that the seven shades wouldn't have learned anyway, so I'll just skip over all the stuff about experimenting on girls to test if they were compatible with Diabolos.
What was different, was the fervor the man spoke with when it came to having been lucky enough to witness an experimental subject that was apparently several hundred years in the making. I didn't get it at the time, but who'd have guessed that when Olivier and I would launch our attack, I'd meet a friend I'd never be able to separate from.
Olivier and I raced from cage to cage, her slaying most of the scientists and their guards as I used my now magically enhanced crowbars to pry open each of the cages the girls were kept in. If any were too injured to move I'd have them support each other. Sometimes Olivier would come by and make a huge chunk of ice with Bufudyne for them to slide on.
I remember there was this one really cool moment where Olivier and I each made impromptu ice skates using magic and had to jump around the girls as they escaped to where Lea and his girls were. We had to make sure with every swing we took down one of the guards, as anything other than a one hit KO could cancel our momentum and force us into a bad spot given that we were the only ones who could keep fighting.
Eventually, Freyja and her party began to route the enemy as Lili and her party had evacuated most of the people we had saved already. So, Olivier and I were afforded the chance to back in and search for any stragglers left in the base (read: search for any treasure or important vampire hunting related documents).
So, deeper and deeper we went into the facility. I have to say, I understand why this had to be on an actual island. Despite the fact that it would keep the kidnapped kids from being able to escape. The floating islands already do that, but it's at least feasible to learn wind magic and propel yourself somewhere else should you not be able to capture a ship. There's also other methods of traveling, like hitching a ride on a monster or even being able to call for help. I mean, it's not likely, but you could theoretically still do it.
But since this was an island that was actually situated on the ocean floor, it 1st: was constantly having the worst of monsters constantly camping on the beaches, none of them the flying type. 2nd: it made it possible for this gigantic ass place to exist. If this place were built on one of the floating islands it'd obviously stick out of the bottom were it any of the normal size—non capital city—islands.
Like what were they going to do to hide this place? Hide it under a toy factory?
Luckily, there's a clear area that was meant to hold people, so it wasn't hard to get out all the people that could be evacuated. The more difficult part was trying to understand what everything was for, so that I could determine what'd be worth stealing. What I found was that there were clear signs that the center of this research center had something important in it.
So, Olivier and I raced to the bottom. It was so deep down that I'm pretty sure that the reason they stopped using glass after a certain point was because there'd be no light down here, and therefore there wouldn't be a point. There's also something to say about the kind of monsters that must live down this far, but it's not like I was ever dumb enough to try and figure that out.
What I was dumb enough to try was to unseal the room that seemed to scream "STAY OUT" "DANGEROUS" "GO BACK" etc. Olivier did caution me, saying that it was clear that whatever I was going to do, was going to have lasting consequences.
To our surprise all that was in the room was a girl that seemed our age.
It was Violet. Although at this point she was simply a random girl to me. And she was surrounded by several dozen guards of all kinds.
I announced my presence as I always did to the room.
"Yahoo! Gimme all your treasure!" I shouted with glee.
Lea, who caught up to us, had scolded me, daring to point out the flaw in my flawless bandit hunting conduct. "Minoru! How are they supposed to give you anything when you already slashed through them?! Olivier, say something."
Olivier, who was my ride or die friend (and maybe a little more) simply replied "Something."
Lea slapped his forehead. "Ugh! That's not what I meant!"
Olivier huffed and turned her head away from him. "I only take orders from Minoru."
As the two bickered I took in the surroundings. For one, there was this giant chained up… thing that just kind of screamed "don't fucking dare if you don't want to die" so I just kind of ignored it. It'd be someone else's problem eventually, but not ours, plus if anything it looked like it was a corpse without a head anyway. Eventually, I noticed that the girl's cage was still closed. So, I walked over and pried it open with my crowbars. Once open I extended my hand.
"Hey, you're free now." I said.
The girl simply stared at me. I remembered that I still had a paper bag on my head and took it off, figuring it might have scared her.
Ann, who saw what I was up to crouched down next to me. "Oh dear, is she scared?"
Next, Mary walked up, ready to heal. "I can heal you if you need miss."
"Hey, don't crowd around her." Said Lea, doing his best to lead all of us. "Besides, we got other people to help."
Olivier didn't say anything, but she did back off a little.
The girl took in the scene and, although she didn't smile, she did seem to show some kind of gratefulness that was obvious to see as she took my hand.
I lifted her up, and from there she started to become part of our little family.
I had no idea what that would bring.
To find out, I'd need to first fight the boss.
But for now, I think we're almost at Holfort, at least given by the robot that woke me up.
-Noelle-
The journey to Holfort was actually pretty exciting. Although Nonna—or rather Claire, wasn't going to come with us and neither was her girlfriend Rogue—er, Deirdre. But the Prince, his entourage, and Marie were.
Speaking of, I've been hanging out with Marie pretty often now. I mainly used to hang out with Claire and Deirdre, mostly because they were around Leon, but on occasion I'd stay with Marie and her boyfriends. I also got to hang out with Carla and Princess Hertrauda that way, especially since I was the one who introduced Jean to her so she could help take care of him after school.
But since I was going to be on The Einhorn for at least two days as it traveled full speed towards Holfort, I had to hang out with who ever was here. Since Marie was the only girl, I felt more comfortable with talking about Leon with her.
Although I guess she wasn't really fond of girl talk because she always seemed a bit uncomfortable when I went into how talking about how Leon was basically one of those prince's on a white horse for me. Although instead he was a prince on a really cool, if admittedly kind of edgy, air bike.
He's cute when he smiles though, so I can overlook a bit of edginess.
-P2W-
Unbeknownst to Noelle, at the same time she had this thought, The Seven Shades, several members of The Shadow Garden, Rose, Beatrix and Alexia all looked off into the distance, having felt seen.
-Noelle-
It was interesting talking to Rie just about anything else. I don't know why, but despite her youthful appearance, Rie kinda felt like a an older lady or something. Not that much older given how childish she could be sometimes, but sort of like an older sister in some ways. Since I was the older one between Leila and me it felt nice being the one making someone else exasperated but still doted on.
From what I can tell, Marie is something of an honorary little sister to Leon, so I imagine she kinda understands what I mean. Although she asks for money a lot more than Leila used to…
I wonder if Emile is doing well financially…
Anyway, lately Rie has been trying to learn a bit about Leila. I guess she's just curious about the only other girl she's learned about that started dating way above her station?
I dunno, but it kinda feels like she's been trying to distract me or something. I guess maybe from the fact I've been helping her feed her gaggle of boyfriends? It does take a tone of effort, but I'm always happy to do it since it usually meant I'd be cooking for Leon too.
I never thought that I could fall for someone like this…
Honestly, if I could just see Leon without those gloves he's been wearing since the dungeon then I could see if he really is my fated person.
I've always valued my ability to tough it out when things get rough. Losing mom and dad, and everything from our life of nobility before I was old enough to really defend myself was rough. Especially since I had to try and help Leila too. As much as I love her, she wasn't the most dependable. She always relied on me for everything, only stopping once she got in a relationship with Emile. I was concerned about her getting into a relationship with one of the six great house heirs, but it was better than that other guy she used to be with.
After spending most of my life having to be the person that others relied on, or having to be this strong and independent person even when I wanted to cry like Leila. There was a time when I tried dating someone too, but it was just awful. The guy constantly treated me like a doll instead of a person, always wanting me to be his ideal woman instead of myself.
With Leon, I feel like I can be myself. I feel like I don't have to tough everything out. I feel safe.
Little did I know, that the day we arrived in Holfort, as I held Sappy close to my chest and asked him to grant my wish of Leon having the guardian crest, I'd have my heart shatter.
-Cid/Minoru/Shadow-
I've always thought it was interesting to see what Leon had going on his love life. Even if only to see what I should or shouldn't emulate in my own.
Well, watching him snap a girl's heart in half by accident… not something I want to do. Although given I don't plan on dating every girl that comes my way, I suppose there's something to learn here as well.
"That confident about yourself, cutie?" teased Violet whose been strangely more cuddly since I witnessed how we met the first time.
Well no, but there's over 700 members of The Shadow Garden now based on Beta's last report. So I can't rule out that if the current habits continue, there will be at least one girl I have no interest in that will approach me and I would have to show them that there's no chance.
I probably wouldn't do it like Leon, who was rushed by both Angie and Livia as soon as the ship reached the port, making it so Noelle had to watch as he was embraced by both of the woman he loved.
It was equal parts sweet as it was awkward.
As, not only did Leon light up at the sight of his two pregnant wives that he hasn't seen in a couple of months (I never told him I could just warp us back at any time) he also picked them up, spun them around as they all laughed happily, and then kissed them square on the mouth before turning back to Noelle.
"Ah, hey, Noelle." Said Leon, not noticing how Noelle was frozen in place given she had a smile plastered on. "I want to introduce you. This is Angie and Livia, they're my fiancés."
Noelle's eyes all but make a creaking sound as she slowly looks down to see Angie and Livia's prominent stomachs.
You know, I think Alpha's about 7 or 8 months along now. I think I should visit more often.
"You should make her one of those cakes she likes too." Said Violet.
Good idea. It's been a while since I've had to make anything but I should be able to whip something up for her and Gamma.
"O-oh…" whimpered Noelle, "I-it's nice to meet you…! W-wow Leon, if you have such adorable fiancés then you shouldn't have gotten so involved with me, they might get the wrong idea!"
Noelle then harshly slapped Leon on the arm a couple of times, most likely doing her best to not let the girls misconstrue her relationship with Leon. As she did, I saw Livia and Angie look at each other, nod, and then approach Leon.
"Leon," said Angie, "As much as we enjoyed seeing you, you do need to report back to the castle."
Livia nodded, "You know that I'd love nothing more than to have you all to ourselves, but you still do have your duties."
Leon sighs and rubs the back of his head. "Nah, I get it. Besides I've been busy relaxing in Alzer whenever I wasn't keeping up with the crazies. You two deserve to rest. But…" Leon looks back to Noelle who notices and waves him off.
"You got important crown prince business, right?" said Noelle as she started to push Leon away, both physically and mentally, "Don't worry about me, I'll just hang out with Rie or something."
Leon looked reluctant though, strangely perceptive only at the wrong times when it came to romance.
"*Cough* Pot and kettle *Cough*"
Huh? What was that?
"Nothing." Said Violet as she ran her hands through my hair, "Just a cough."
Can you cough? You're like a spirit right?
Violet shrugged, "If I feel like I should feel something I will."
"Are you okay Noelle?" asked Leon as he started to feel her forehead, "You'd get flush a lot back in Alzer. I can't imagine that being in a new country would be great for you, especially with everything going on."
"We'll take care of her." Said Livia as she and Angie began to push Leon away as well. He seemed hesitant but trusted the two girls so with one final wave towards the trio, and a nod towards me, he went with Julius and Jilk to the palace.
I looked over to Noelle who seemed to want to say something. I didn't really want to get involved, but Noelle's been nice to me so far, so I decided to leave her some words of wisdom before I left.
"That which is most precious is often something that needs to be worked hard for." I said as I began walking away, "And sometimes, it needs to be shared. That's why most adventurers form parties, after all."
Angie and Livia shot me grateful looks and waved me off as I began to walk towards the nearby Mitsugoshi. Although Alpha normally stays at the residence in my family's territory, she has been going back and forth between the Holfort and Midgar capital branches to handle business.
-Noelle-
I was a little grateful for Cid saying that cringy stuff before he left, because as I tried to figure out what he meant, the other two girls had led me to a tea room and let me get nice and comfy. I did end up crying a bit, but neither of the girls had commented on it. Honestly, if I was home I'd probably have spent at least a week bawling my eyes out and eating all of Leila's chocolate and Ice cream.
Instead, I ended up crying into the arms of both girls. I felt so pathetic given the situation but I needed someone to comfort me. I couldn't bring myself to be strong.
But I only cried for a bit…
Then again by the time I stopped the sun set, so either I didn't know when the sun set in Holfort or I cried for that long.
"Noelle." Called out the cute girl with short blonde hair and kind blue and red eyes. The look in her eyes as she cautiously patted my head and wiped my tears hurt me as much as it comforted me. There wasn't any pity in her gaze, just comfort. "You love Leon, don't you."
Knowing my voice would just crack if I tried to speak, I just nodded and sobbed a little more. The kind girl hugged me again. It was a bit awkward given her swollen belly, and because of our chests getting in the way a bit, but somehow I kind of felt like… I dunno… like my mom was hugging me again.
Not that she ever did that often, but there was a small period of time where she was nice to me before she got all weird and focused on Leila.
"It must hurt, doesn't it?" asked Olivia.
I nodded again as she continued to wipe my tears away.
The other girl, the one with only red eyes but with a clear regal air about her spoke up next. "Noelle, I know a thing or two about heart break." I looked up at her, baffled before she explained. "Leon wasn't my first love. That was actually Julius."
I thought back to how much Julius was interacting with Rie. How they would flirt and argue and laugh and…
"So you know how it feels…" I whispered.
Angelica nodded. "Noelle, if you love Leon as we do. Or even if you love him like I used to Julius, then you may want to consider what I'm about to say next."
I wiped my eyes and sniffled a bit to try and compose myself.
"Would you like to enter a relationship with him as well?" asked Angelica. My eyes widened a bit in surprise, but with her next few words they practically shot into my hair line. "You'd unfortunately be sharing him with at least 7 other women. If it's to your preference, some of us are also interested in women, so your love could be divided should you care to try. Not that we would force anything of course, it's simply that a relationship such as the one we hold with Leon best works when we also care for one another… which every way that may be expressed."
I made random sounds as I tried to form words.
Angelica continued, "You may be curious as to why Livia and I can accept such a thing, correct?"
I just nodded, not even knowing how to process my feelings.
"You've heard of Leon's title, yes?" asked Angelica.
"Sort of. I heard of 'The Bloody Crown Prince' before, but I can't say I trust everything the rumors say." I explained.
"Oh!" said Olivia as her eyes lit up at the chance to brag about Leon. "Let me fill you in then…"
Olivia then went on to tell me everything about Leon that she said she felt like she should. Apparently there was at least a couple of things that she felt like should come from his own mouth.
Basically, Leon didn't start as a crown prince. He was the son of a baron who was dealt a bad hand. Thanks to this, Leon decided to do everything he could to try and change the fate that awaited him and his little brother thanks to his stepmother. On this adventure he ended up meeting Olivia, Claire, and Cid. Through the knowledge Leon gained from reading old journals, listening to rumors, and other general cleverness, they found what would later be called The Hangar of the Lost Winds. There, they'd find Leon's lost items, and even found some territory and treasure on their way back home.
Leon would then be rewarded with the rank of baron and moved to the advanced class. He requested for the King and Queen to allow Olivia to go with him, which had won her heart over after her already growing crush from the adventure. Claire had apparently also gotten feelings for him around then.
During their time in the academy they'd do their best to spend time together and make new friends. Eventually, they met Angelica, who was still pining after Julius at the time. As well as Clarice, who was pining after Jilk. Marie was something of a villainess to them apparently, having been the one to seduce those five guys. Given they were engaged at the time, I can see why they aren't her biggest fan.
Knowing that things were going to get bad, and having run into a secret organization, Leon decided that he couldn't let things go on as they were. Apparently during his adventure, Leon had learned that he was a descendant of the royal family as well, and therefore had a right to the throne.
Which brought up as to why they had established a harem. Leon didn't always want to take the throne. Originally, he wanted to see Julius take the crown since Leon actually hates having too many responsibilities. But after seeing Julius break Angelica's heart, and even gaining an interest due to their friendship, Leon decided to do what he thought was necessary.
Through a whole bunch of stuff that happened, like a princess kidnapping, a dungeon collapse, and training his friends to win a tournament, things just ended up that Leon would fight the five boys and take the throne.
But to take a throne, you need support. And the easiest way in Angelica's mind to see said support and make it permanent, was to establish a harem. According to her, it was a bit expected for men to have some dalliances, so if she could control it, and have it benefit her, it was all the better.
Everyone in this harem did genuinely have feelings for Leon. Some were just stronger than others. They also all had their own uses.
Clarice and Deirdre were daughters to Earl families, both families were really good for warfare and general things related to technology, as well having long histories with the nation.
Princess Iris of Midgar was a part of this, what she'd bring in terms of support being pretty obvious.
Claire was the daughter of a baron, but she was an extremely strong dark knight as well as one of the first two to meet him.
There was one more lover, but they couldn't tell me about her yet due to some complicated reasons.
As for them?
Angelica was the daughter of a ducal family. Olivia was a commoner, but together they were both halves of the Saintess of Holfort.
"And you," said Angelica as I took everything in, "Are the new priestess of a new sacred tree, correct?"
I nodded dumbly in response.
Angelica then smiled, "And more importantly, you hold the same feelings for Leon that we do."
I couldn't help but slightly smile at this somehow. It should piss me off, yet it was nice to hear.
"You're going to be here for a bit." Said Olivia, "Why don't you spend it trying to figure things out?"
"You… you don't mind me joining?" I couldn't help but ask.
Angelica shrugged, "We only expect him to take 9 lovers. You'd be the ninth and final one. I can't imagine we'd need any more, nore would I want to tolerate any more."
"How'd you come up with nine?" I asked. "Wait, ninth? Why would I be the ninth?"
"It's a rough estimate on how much we assume he could handle as well as the work weak of a typical noble. The 10 slot would be a rest day or a day to spend with children essentially." Explained Angelica.
I guess that makes sense. Nobles are busy so there isn't a lot of time to spend with your loved ones unless you're really smart about it.
"Oh, and the eighth girl was someone he met in Alzer too." Chirped Olivia, "I think her name was Louise?"
"WHAT!?"
"Oh, don't worry, we have a lot to talk to her about before we'd accept. It's just we were informed about her first, hence why we said she'd be the eighth." Said Angelica with a smile that reminded me of one of Leon's scheming ones.
"Oh… do you need any help with that?" I asked.
-P2W-
Back in Alzer, Princess Hertrauda found herself rather caught up in the wake of change. She had known that Prince Leon had been one to force the world to change whenever he saw fit, her own country now ducal territory proof of that, but now that he had been in another country for roughly 2-3 months and already showed—albeit indirectly through his greatest archenemy in Lord Shadow—that the crest system wasn't almighty and then showed how much superior his one ship was against the majority of Alzer's mercenary and trained knights, all to restore a once dead house.
Well, she felt that maybe staying behind to see her subordinate's new love life bloom was the calmer option. That and she didn't want to go back to her sister's loud and messy love life. All the books that Hertrauda had read as a child depicted romance as something sweet and caring, something that took time and care. Not the shouting matches that led to beds creaking she had been trapped with until she hitched a ride to Alzer with Prince Leon.
"So…" said Hertrauda as cautiously as she could've, given that her and Carla were both doing their best to have Carla win over Jean. "How was it?"
Carla, having slept the necessary two hours (the shadow garden training being massively useful) was wide awake with a slight grin. "He was able to start using his hands again." Carla then pointed at herself with one thumb, the other hand being used to pet Elle's belly, "Guess what he wanted to touch first?"
Hertrauda, hugging a pillow, started to squeal in excitement. "You?"
Carla nodded, "He gave me a big hug. He's a bit scrawny, but that just meant I could have both hands wrap around him and burrow into him easily. And I just loved how he rubbed his hand through my hair, guess having Elle was good practice for petting, weird as it is to say."
Hertrauda kicked her feet in excitement and Carla began giggling like a girl her age. What wasn't said by Carla was the fact that she had been the one to dive into the hug first, with Jean awkwardly returning it once he regained feeling in his still bruised ribs. Although, to be fair, were it not for the pain Jean would've been as happy to hug a cute girl that was his type as any man his age.
The two girls had their love talk interrupted by the sound of a *KNOCK* at the door of their current residence.
"Lady Hertrauda, Miss Carla. If it would please you, breakfast shall be ready in one hour. We are going to have crepes with toppings of your choosing. But if you'd like to have something else, please say so within the next thirty minutes." Called out the voice of a maid of the Rault Household.
For their own safety, Hertrauda and Carla had been taken in by the Rault's while Leon and most of the others were gone. It had only been about two days so far, but they could say that having proper maids to attend to them was welcome again after the past few months of them having to largely fend for themselves.
BOOOOOOM!*
"EEEEEEEEKKKKK!"
Due to the large boom and screaming outside Carla took a quick glance out of the window near her and sighed.
"It's just them training again." Said Carla.
Hertrauda nervously giggled as the two got ready for their day.
-Louise-
As I tried to get my body to reform, I did my best to recall how I ended up in this situation.
Urgh…
Ah, yes, I remember now.
As a vampire my sleeping schedule is actually quite… abnormal compared to the one from my last life. See, I'm technically wired to be nocturnal. However, due to the way that whomever decided when business should be open, I and most of my fellow vampires had to spend much of our childhood adapting to the day time schedule.
Usually what happens is that I'll end up taking a few naps throughout the day. One 1 hour one in the middle of the day, two hours after school, and usually a 3-5 hour rest at night. Due to the excitement of everything that happened, I'd been taking shorter rests at night so that I could…
Ugh*
Help with the paperwork that would help reinstate the Lespinasse sisters as a Great House. As it was forced upon Loic and Pierre, and therefore their households, through the oath made to the Sacred tree, at least half of us were dedicated to the efforts. In the interest of not pissing off the apparently strong crown prince and his insanely strong ship, Narcisse Calza Granze convinced his household to play along as well. The other two households didn't have any objections.
The difficult part came in convincing the three towers, who had effectively ruled the ruins of Lespinasse's territory, to give part of the land back. Especially because that little witch Leila was doing jack all to try and help her own home, saying that she was going to marry into house Pleven anyway, so all this house Lespinasse stuff was just Noelle's problem.
Meaning, that it's currently my problem.
I was able to talk them into setting the issue with Noelle when she came back one way or another, but I know they're all making moves in secret so I have to do the same.
Which brings me to today. At the crack of dawn (roughly 4:00 AM in Alzer) I had been greeted by both Claire and Deirdre. I could tell that neither woman was my biggest fan, but as I wanted Leon to be a fan of me once again, I had did my best to humor them. What I hadn't expected was-
SHINK*
"Pick it up."
I looked at the sword that had been buried into the ground before me. Something I knew was actually incredibly difficult to do in real life as compared to those characters from the games and anime that Leon was always a big fan of. The person who put that sword there with no effort was Claire.
"Uh." I tried to start a sentence only for Claire to cut me off again.
"Pick. It. Up." Said Claire.
"I don't know how to swordfight." I tried.
Claire folded her arms. "I know. You're going to learn today."
I looked over at Deirdre only to see her drinking tea next to a maid who has a med-kit at the ready. She notices my gaze and puts down the cup. "Don't worry, they're training blades. You should be fine."
"But why do I have to learn this? I'm effectively a princess! I don't fight, I have ghouls, familiars, and knights fight for me. Even if I had to, I mainly use magic!" I explained.
Claire just shook her head. "And what if they're like a shadow garden member and highly resistant to it? Or what if they're like Leon's familiar and have the ability to absorb all your magic? Or heck, what if they just get close before you can cast?"
"Ugh, you sound like my mother." I whined.
Claire jutted out a hip in impatience, "Maybe you should listen to her. Or, no, listen to me. I'm going to count down from three and if you don't get the sword then you'll be fending for yourself with your bare hands. 5…"
"Wait, wait, wait!" I tried to shout out.
"4…"
I immediately tried to grab the sword in front of me, only to see it's actually lighter than I expected it to be and end up nearly falling on my ass. My saving grace being my vampiric ability to float whenever I want.
"321!"
"Hey, you totally sped up just—AAAHH!"
I shrieked in fright as Claire appeared before me within seconds despite being 10 feet away at the start. I raise the sword only to find my arms swinging wildly thanks to the weight of each of Claire's strikes. I spin a bit since I can't find the opportunity to stop and ground my feet.
Claire seems to take glee in this fact because rather than taking any chance to just end me already, she keeps hitting the sword and making me spin in several different directions. Eventually she hit me a bit too hard and sent me flying back. I take the chance to finally land although I admit I stumble as I slide backwards a bit.
Just as I do Claire closes in again.
In fear, I take my mistform next. This baffles Claire as she attempts to cut through me, or at least bruise my side severely given how my mist form is sent flying for a bit.
"You're so mean!" I shout as I do my best to start counter attacking. Unfortunately, I'm not that great of a fighter so Claire manages to parry each strike I make pretty easily.
The fight only ends when I get too tired to maintain the mist form and collapse. The sun begins to rise in full, but I found my view of it obstructed by Deirdre… who then opened up a jar of something and poured it over my head.
"Wha—!?" I balked in shock at her audacity.
"It's a stamina potion," explained Deirdre, "You could drink it but if you're not used to the taste it's pretty hard to keep down. So it's faster to simply pour it on you."
I do feel my exhaustion leave my body so I take her hand and get up again. "I didn't realize that people could do that."
Deirdre shrugged her shoulders, "The men like to break the glass against their face or body."
"Even Leon?"
"He usually crushes it in his hand and then throws it up to spray over him, but yes."
"Figures." Come to think of it, most of his video game characters did that whenever they used items. "Does he say stuff like 'using this' or 'there?' while throwing it one handed?"
"Yes, how did you know?" asked Deirdre as I patted my clothes clean.
I smiled, knowing that the knowledge of his favorite video game characters—like that boy with the key or that one who shot his head to summon monsters—would most likely be knowledge that only Leon and I would share.
Deirdre picked up on this unfortunately. "Well, now that you're back in stance, we can begin your magic training."
"My what."
And that's what my morning has been like.
Deirdre's signature spell, Rose Hurricane, is just such bullshit against the Mist Form. Wind spells usually just make it so you can't land a hit, but her Rose Hurricane generates so much force that I can't even move due to how my body needs to reform. I basically have two options: 1. Let my body be spread out over the entire field, which isn't painful so much as it is nauseating and 2. Effectively be kicked out of my mist form.
Ugh, I hope that things in Holfort are handled quickly so that I don't have to suffer this for too long.
…Although it may also be fun to play fight with him again. I certainly remember all the times we wrestled before we'd 'wrestled' close to the end of our relationship.
…
Ah, now I'm sad.
-Beta-
Although darling had gone back to Holfort, if mostly so he could go back to Midgar for a bit and see Alpha and Gamma, I decided to continue on with my mission and stay in Alzer.
Our main concern, that being The Shadow Garden's, would have to be the potential remnants of the cult in this location. Specifically with the Sacred Tree's many dungeons. As Natsume, I've been able to talk to people such as Narcisse Calce Granze. However aside from the professor, there aren't many people that study the dungeons.
I did ask His Highness Leon for any information he had on being able to find anything like Luxion. He could only say that the best thing he'd recommend is trying to look for anything that glows under special circumstances. With the crimson moon approaching, I suppose that'd be my best bet.
For now, I've been otherwise researching the history of sacred tree.
It took a while, and I needed to secretly storm the old Lespinasse territory, but I have found some more information over the sacred tree. From what I can tell Noelle and Leila's parents had been researching the sacred tree rather extensively. I can't tell why, given that they should've been the previous priestess and guardian for the tree.
Perhaps that spurned their desire for knowledge? I'm not sure.
In any case, from what I can tell they seemed to have gathered that the reason vampires gather around the tree so much may go back to the history of the vampire queen, Elizabeth. It was said that she was someone who ruined several countries during the bloodies crimson moon in history.
Come to think of it, we don't know who planted the original tree, nor who took care of it. Perhaps it could be that Elizabeth was one of those two people, if not both. Elizabeth was called the queen of vampires for a reason other than her strength after all. It could be that she moved her people here to try and take advantage of the sacred tree.
"Um…"
I looked over at number 666, Rose Oriana. One of darling's declared 'awesome friends.' A title that previously only belonged to Leon.
"Yes, 666?" I asked.
"Are we allowed to share theories?" she asked in return. As I've been doing nothing but that for the past few moments, I motion for her to continue. "Has it been questioned why something with sacred energy doesn't harm the vampire residents?"
"A bit. But you seem to want to focus on a different aspect than I had been."
666 nodded, "Yes. What concerns me is how such a thing could happen. I do know that fresh sap often tastes of blood. In fact, sacred tree branches that is burned while still full of magic will also smell of burning flesh."
"Yes, Lord Shadow had said something similar."
"Well, something I've heard before is that Vampires can gain power the more of them there are in one place, somewhat similar to how you seven shades gain power just by being near Lord Shadow." I want to interject and say that's mostly the power of love—kya—but I understand what she means. "What if… what if that time that Queen Elizabeth had wiped out all those nations was to feed it to the tree? So that it would then take on a more sinister yet still holy nature. Like some kind of carnivorous plant."
Hm…
"But would the tree not simply die upon being fed lakes of blood?" I questioned.
666 shrugged, "That's why this is merely a theory. I just fail to see the connection between all of these things, yet…" 666 adopts the same faraway look that Darling often takes when he's about to change the world. "I know somehow that the secret of Queen Elizabeth lies behind everything that's happened here. The Sacred Tree, the fall of house Lespinasse, the vampires… there's a thread they all share, but we need to find it."
I pat Rose on the head in approval. "Then we should keep looking… but tomorrow. I hear footsteps again."
As we left I began to think about Lord Darling. I wonder what he's up to right now?
-Cid/Minoru (Shadow)-
I slowly approached the platform that the boss would lie upon. To my _ the person I would have to fight before I could unlock my next memory was Olivier.
"Minoru…" said Olivier with her slight smile. "You're much happier this time around."
"I am." I said, feeling a bit bad.
"But you seem so tired." Olivier tilted her head, "How strange. For many, love is the wind beneath their wings. Yet for you, it always seemed as though love has had a weight to it."
"…I think that's just what it's like for us guys." I answered.
Olivier shrugged, "I suppose. Lea was also the type to receive and feel bad for it."
I nodded, now knowing exactly what she meant.
"Can I ask you something?" asked Olivier.
"Shoot."
"Do you still desire to become The Eminence in Shadow?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
I answer without hesitation, "Yes."
Olivier closes her eyes. "You're sure?"
"Yes."
"No matter what it may cost?"
"It will cost what I want it too. It's my goal, and I know what I want."
Olivier opens her eyes and looks straight at me.
Straight. At. Me.
"Then let me ask this- The version of yourself you should strive to become… Can it not be strong unless you constantly put forth every effort?" she asked.
"No, I suppose not." I said. "But it's not as though I haven't been doing that."
"Have you? Have you really been putting forth every effort?" asked Olivier.
"…I am now." I answered. "But I suppose I wasn't before."
Olivier closes her eyes. A tear drops from one of her eyes, and it turns crimson in color. Olivier's image begins to distort and transform, her slight smile turning into a wicked grin.
"I never took this form in my first life." She laughed, "It was something we came up with that I never was able to use in reality. Why don't we see what could have been, Minoru?"
I reach back for my sword only to find myself taking out my twin crowbars.
…
This isn't just for me, now is it?
I charge in.
Olivier matches my speed easily. I twirl one crowbar so that I hold it backwards as we get close. With a loud *SCREEEECH* of metal as her sword and my crowbar meets I do my best to try and use the other one to hit her in the stomach, but she doesn't lose any momentum and immediately kicks it away as she jumps up and attempts to hit me with a few slashes while in the air.
I guard each of them as she practically dances upside down above me before having to form an X with the crowbars above me as she does her best to stomp with both feet. When I push her up and send her flying she raises both of her arms above her as she grasps her sword and rights herself so that she'll fall with a slash. I spin on the tip of my foot as she falls down.
But I can't capitalize on her attack due to her slash hitting the ground so hard that the floating platform we were standing on flipping and sending me flying. I have to use one of the artifacts I had gained earlier to use a wind spell to land on another platform as Olivier jumps from several to my location.
As she moves in a zig zag pattern I take a brief glance at my surroundings to form a plan of attack. I smirk as she gets close and use my right crowbar to pick up some dirt from the ground. When she tries to fly in my direction with a thrust I spin and throw the dirt in the air.
I can't see her, but I can tell that she either closed her eyes or got blinded. I use the opportunity to back up some more and start checking for some other artifacts. I eventually find one that temporarily boosts my speed. As soon as I apply it, Olivier dispels the dirt and comes rushing towards me again with a slash.
I meet it with a loud *BANG!* and force her sword to move away from my body and towards the ground. However, in this form Olivier is a lot stronger than I anticipated and I end up having to use both arms to try and keep her sword from moving.
"Looks like you still got it Minoru." Says Olivier with a smile.
I smile back, "Looks like you have some new tricks. You aren't just a memory, now are you?"
With that same smile Olivier boosts herself with magic and forces me back by the sheer force of power. I manage to dig my heels in the ground so I only move back about two feet before she begins to attack again.
Slash after slash comes my way and I can't do anything for now but do my best to parry them, knowing my crowbars would break if they received a head on collision. I have to admit that Olivier's fighting style feels a lot like Alpha's.
But it's sort of in that way where alternate versions of characters have the final skills of others as their normal attacks. That slash that Olivier did to flip the platform was totally something I've seen Alpha do before, and her flying in the air with slashes is just like how Alpha likes to do that backflip kick one.
All to say that if I rely on fighting with just the crowbars and a few artifacts, I'm not going to win. Or at the very least, it'd be really difficult and look less like an Eminence in Shadow fighting and a protagonist hero fighting.
So the next time Olivier comes at me I spin with the momentum generated by her strike and hit her in the back with the full force of one of my crowbars. As expected, it doesn't do much but make a loud *CLANG!* once it impacts, but it does get her to stumble a bit. So I flip the bar near her back so that it latches onto her shoulder pauldron and yank her down.
Once she begins to bend like she's doing the limbo she tries swing her sword up but I let go of my crowbars to grab her hands and make it so now I'm above her and doing my best to press her own blade into her.
It gets to the point where I'm straddling her with the cross guard poking my neck as the blade inches towards hers.
But as soon as it touches hers.
I stop.
Why did I stop?
Why?
…
Why am I doing this?
"Minoru…" coos Olivier.
There are tears on her face.
No.
There are tears falling on her face.
They aren't' hers.
They aren't mine.
"Minoru…" Olivier stops fighting for the sword and instead reaches for my (?) face. "It's time we go."
Olivier kisses me(?) and-
-Minoru-
I take a look over the cliff that I'm on. It's not too high up, but it has a good view of the camp. I'm standing next to the girl we saved. Although, I guess 'girl' isn't a good description anymore.
She used to be super tiny, about a head less in height than Olivier. But once she started to train and eat alongside us she grew. At first we were worried that Mary was over feeding her and Lili was sneaking her too much candy, or that maybe Pente or Duet had doted on her too much. But no, she was apparently just extremely malnourished by the scientists that must've been keeping her.
Which seems kind of dumb to me. I mean, if she was so important that she'd be kept at the most heavily guarded part of the facility, then wouldn't she be important enough to keep properly fed?
Then again none of the scientists that lived near that level seemed to be the sane sort.
"Minni…" whispered the woman with Violet hair and eyes. "You're staring…"
I open my mouth only to feel two hands grab the sides of my head and force it to turn. With a somewhat pleasant feeling of my neck cracking in the area that it needed to, I find my vision filled with Olivier once more.
"Olivier?" I asked.
"If you need to stare at someone, then stare at me." She said. "No need to bother any other girls."
I chuckled and booped Olivier on the nose. Her ears wiggled a bit although her facial expression didn't change from her usual neutral expression.
It made it a bit cuter if you asked me.
So, I booped her again.
"Cease." Demanded Olivier as she made no move to stop me. "There is a child watching."
"A child?" I laughed "She's clearly our age. Right, …uh…"
I looked over at the Violet eyed woman who smiles.
"Huh… it's been a bit but we haven't really figured out a name for you yet have we?" I realized.
She shook her head, "No. I was waiting for you to name me."
"You were?" I asked.
"Hey." Olivier called for my attention and showed a rare expression on her face, a pout. "You're not going to give her a name before you give me one, are you?"
I raised a brow, "But you have a name, one given to you by your family. You even told me how much it means to you since…"
Olivier nodded. "Yes. The name Olivier will always hold a special place in my memory. So long as I carry the memory of the name Olivier I shall be a vampire slayer. I shall always fight, I shall always become stronger, I shall always be the hero. But through you, my Minoru, I believe I can have a future where I leave that name and that fate behind."
Although I was blushing redder than an apple and feeling my heart pounding in my ears, I understood what Olivier was getting to. "The strongest blade is the one you never have to use." I said, to which Olivier and the Violet eyed girl nodded. "And together we might make a future where the blade, Olivier, may finally rest."
Olivier smiles. "Correct as usual. But like always there's also something that could be done to make it better. See, I also dislike what's become of my name. Ever since I joined the organization, my name has been spread far and wide. While it did help for me to learn more about any potential vampire problems, it also perverted the name. What was given to me out of love, has become a symbol of heroism. It became the name of a hero, not the daughter of two loving parents."
I nod.
I decide to think about it for a bit. I don't want Olivier to abandon her name, I know how much it matters to her, and I should try to make it something she'd like.
"Hm… I'm not sure about giving you a completely new name." I hummed. "But since we're friends and partners, how about I give you a nickname… How's Olly sound? Girls like cute names, right?"
"Oh that's adorable!" shouted the girl with Violet eyes. "Me next, me next!"
I nodded and took a good look at her. "You have a lot of purple on you, I'd say it's probably your most noticeable feature. So how about we play into that? You shall be called… Violet."
Violet's eyes widened with joy. "I love it… a name just for our family."
"Huh?"
Violet then giggled, "But when we're with everyone, call me Aurora, okay Minni?"
I just chuckled, realizing that I'd been somehow played. "Sure, Violet."
I feel my hand being held, and see it's Oliv—it's Olly.
"Minoru, my Minoru." Said Olivier with an uncharacteristic blush that was making my head feel all fuzzy. "Please, let me live for you under this new name."
I frowned a bit, "I said that's not allowed. It's not like you're my wife."
"Please make me your wife." Begged Olly.
I felt my face go hot as she giggled.
I did my best to take control of the situation as Violet watched amusedly, as though she were watching something she didn't help set up, the menace that she is.
"I need my wife to be strong." I said as I looked away.
"Am I not the strongest woman you know?" said Olly. Which was true, although debatable if we counted Mary and Ann considering the ridiculous stuff they can do with magic.
"Strength? That is merely borrowed power." I said with a bit of a force laugh. I see Olly's ears droop so I feel a bit bad (read: my heart is squeezed like never before and I have to fix it immediately) "…But perhaps Lea had a point. Perhaps I could… work with you. Perhaps we could create something together."
Although I had proven this to Olly before, I admit I hadn't quite accepted it myself. So in this moment I was indirectly using it to… confess.
Olly, warrior that she is, uses the opportunity to tease me immediately. "Like a child? I am ready at any time. Just give the order."
My face feels like its on fire as I shout and push her away, Violet's cackling nearby not helping. "I wouldn't order something like that!"
Olly joined in Violet's giggling.
I eventually collect myself. If I am to welcome Olly in. More than I had been. More than anyone so far. To create a family. Then I need to talk about my actual goal. Or rather, the goal I had in coming to a new world to accomplish my goal.
"Anyway, this is something I always wanted to accomplish myself, but since I wasn't transported to this world with the ability to cast magic I never could. Not in this life." I then reached out to Olly. "But, I think that we could do this together. Fair warning, it might hurt, and it could be dangerous. Do you trust me?"
Olly answered immediately and honestly. "With my life."
I sat down and took out one of my crowbars to draw in the sand. "Okay, so this power comes from the great mind of a man known as Oppenhiemer…"
I talk for what must be hours, strangely at peace in this moment like never before. Feeling a sense of euphoria much like the first time I discovered the version of myself I wanted to be.
So it only makes sense that when Violet went off to bed and left the two of us alone.
That my hands would reach out to Olivier's face and-
-Cid-
Went to her neck and started to-
-Minoru-
I'm holding her close.
-Cid-
I'm choking her.
-Minoru-
I'm kissing her.
-Cid-
I'm hurting her.
-Minoru-
I'm happy.
-Cid-
What am I doing?
-Minoru-
I have no idea what I'm doing but I know this feels right.
-Cid-
This feels wrong. It's wrong. It's wrong, I shouldn't be doing this.
-Minoru-
Olly.
-Cid-
Olivier…
-Minoru-
I cry out her name in-
-Cid-
Grief. I'm grieving. I'm hurting her. I'm hurting myself. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
-Minoru-
This is love.
-Cid-
I should have never felt this.
-Minoru-
At some point I see Violet come back.
-Cid-
Did you know about this? Did you know… no, there's no way you could have. You're remembering all of this too. You're remembering what it means to have something you're afraid to lose.
-Minoru-
I hold her close too.
-Cid-
No wonder you decided to sit so far away.
-Minoru-
I'm glad we're all together. I reach for her.
-Cid-
I can only feel _ below me and your gaze on me.
-Minoru-
I would reach for Duet's hand eventually.
-Cid-
Olivier's face shifts to Beta's.
-Minoru-
Sarasa would be the one to reach out to me, if a bit clumsily.
-Cid-
Gamma.
-Minoru-
Teresa wasn't subtle _ about what she wanted.
-Cid-
Delta.
-Minoru-
Pente _ made _ feel like _ was back in _ and talking to the popular girl. It always was _to feel like a mob _. As a mob, _ have to reach for her.
-Cid-
Epsilon.
-Minoru-
Lily was too shy too _ or do anything at first, but it was clear _. I'd _ the one to reach out _.
-Cid-
Zeta.
-Minoru-
was _ I _ to _ it's , _ _.
-Cid-
Eta.
-Minoru-
I loved them.
-Cid-
I'm lying to them.
-Minoru-
I don't want to lose any of them.
-Cid-
I'm lying to them.
-Minoru-
I love them.
-Cid-
I'm hurting them.
-Minoru-
And it all started with _
-Cid-
Alpha.
-Minoru-
She's always by my side.
-Cid-
I can't be near you.
-Minoru-
I just want to hold you close.
-Cid-
I'm choking her.
-Minoru-
I love you.
-Cid-
I'm hurting her. I'm hurting them. I'm choking her. I'm hurting her. I'm hurting them. I'm choking her. I'm hurting her. I'm hurting them. I'm choking her. I'm hurting her. I'm hurting them. I'm choking her. I'm hurting her. I'm hurting them. I'm choking her. I'm hurting her. I'm hurting them. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her. I'm choking her.
"_" the woman below me (?) calls for my (?) name. "You need to let go. You need to wake up."
-Shadow-
I wake up.
I'm breathing harder than any training session ever had me.
I take in the sound of breathing.
Alpha.
She's in front of me.
My hands are in front of me.
I stop breathing.
She continues.
She's fine. No red marks. No disturbances. She's fine. Everything's fine.
I get up.
I run.
-Delta/Sara-
It doesn't happen often, and if anything I'm pretty sure it's been at least a de—a d—um… a bunch of years since I've seen it. But I woke up to the familiar scent and sound of someone crying.
Wait no, not someone.
Bossman. Cid.
I walked over to where he was, in front of a spring. I don't think he's even using magic to see in the dark. He usually doesn't. I guess sometimes he doesn't want to see something.
"Sara?" asked Cid.
I did what I always did when he gets like this and laid down on his lap.
Cid pet me for a while until he stopped smelling like tears.
"Sara… I…"
"Hush, hush, secret?"
Cid nods.
So, we stay there until he starts to fall asleep again.
"Sara… I'm strong, right?"
"The strongest?"
"Even when…"
"You're so strong you can act weak. That's how strong you are."
"…"
"I love you."
"I love you, Sara… *ZZZ*"
I then did what I usually did and took Cid to somewhere safe to sleep, and told everyone when I got back that our Bossman had a mission and couldn't tell anyone about it.
.
.
.
A/N: If I was confident about my timing I'd probably post something like a Majora's Mask esque "Dawn of the First Arc: _ chapters remain" to signify the John Smith Arc or something.
I hope that "certified" good girl Sara was a light note to end things on.
If you're curious, no, Cid didn't do anything to Alpha in his sleep. But the reincarnation stuff finally got to him, so when he was still fighting Olivier he started to see Alpha and all the other shades as his memories of Minoru and his romances started to flash in his mind.
We should have one or two chapters in Holfort for Noelle to meet everyone and undergo some development for more than just adding her to the harem and then we'll go back to Alzer and be greeted by the Crimson moon.
Is there any shade or shadow garden member you guys would like to check up on next time? I don't have any specific plans. I feel like a Delta section might be good, but I need at least one more for the chapter to feel right.
Now let's answer the comments from last chapter.
SB
MWKillKenny84: Someone had to have common sense, and it couldn't have been anyone that was in charge obviously.
EDG1999: Here's the link to the fic on QQ. If you have an account you should be able to access it. https/forum./threads/lifes-a-pay-to-win-game.27248/
Someone ani: If she's 18 in canon I guess she'd be around 20 in my fic then.
Come to think of it, I stopped writing lemons around chapter 30 I think so you're probably right that, that's why I saw a drop. Alongside all the other factors. Thanks for the kind words.
Maybe I should queue these to show up at a better time?
Bladist: Thanks again for the fan omake, I re-read it so many times already. It really made my week.
Ao3
DivineDemonDragon: I feel like most of the shades are plenty capable without magic as well. Gamma for instance, a lot of what she can do is brute strength that she can't control.
I'll be honest, I messed up with Lili's name because of an autocorrect thing and just didn't go back and fix it.
I have to wonder if it was only Subaru and his friends that died too, or maybe Alpha and/or Beta did a couple of times. No way that Cid did though. But yeah, I recall the villain Cid vaporized being pretty important.
Wolfpaladin: Autocorrect issue. Thanks though, did my best not to repeat it.
He did eventually :D Although that's messing with Shadow now.
They are going to have the wildest hate sex threeways with Leon.
I might not bring her up again, but writing Zelestia/Zephia was pretty fun.
Loic isn't Louise's brother. You're thinking of Serge. Loic is from a different house.
BOY4_GOW:
One of the fun things about Minoru/Cid is that he can be pretty dumb at times for as smart as he actually is. But yeah he wasn't getting away no matter the pace he tried it at.
There's also her feats of strength to account for. But Delta flying around like Bladist had her in the first omake would be pretty funny.
Lmao yeah.
I kinda wish I wrote the actual scene of the confrontation with the hazing to have Luxion's revenge feel better honestly.
Yup. Don't let her in a mech, too many red buttons.
Totntotbt: Shadow is going to be a whole thing honestly. Or rather, John Smith.
I should get into Leila next chapter. I was going to this one, but didn't see a good opportunity to.